


Matcha Powder

by cryogirl



Series: Soft, sweet, stupid meet-cutes [8]
Category: Rhett & Link
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Awkward Flirting, M/M, Meet-Cute, Rhett McLaughlin Has A Manbun, Tea Shop Owner Link
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-31
Updated: 2020-07-31
Packaged: 2021-03-05 23:22:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,862
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25633507
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cryogirl/pseuds/cryogirl
Summary: Rhett doesn’t expect much from a tiny tea room in a tiny rural town— but the guy behind the counter might change his mind.——Originally posted on tumblr.
Relationships: Rhett McLaughlin/Link Neal
Series: Soft, sweet, stupid meet-cutes [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1758274
Comments: 6
Kudos: 32





	Matcha Powder

**Author's Note:**

  * For [EnthusiasticAudience](https://archiveofourown.org/users/EnthusiasticAudience/gifts).



> Written for the lovely enthusiasticaudience who wanted fluff and Anon who wanted a tea room AU. :)

A small bell above the door gave a happy little jingle as Rhett entered the room. He looked around and saw half a dozen tables with old wooden chairs, half of which were occupied by a handful of patrons. Contrary to what Rhett had feared, the tea room was cute; not in the over-the-top Instagram style he was used from the coffee shops in the city, but somehow even more charming. There were flowers on every table and the wooden walls were painted in a creamy white, giving the place a quaint look.

Not at all what Rhett had expected from a tea room in some redneck small town hours from civilisation (actually he was just two hours outside of the city, but after he’d spent the entire morning driving through corn fields, it sure felt like that). He’d hoped for a Starbucks, but this was still better than a gas station and he needed his caffeine fix.

Rhett walked up to the counter, which was full of plates and stands with pies and cookies. “Hi,” he said to a man with an apron who was working a coffee machine. He seemed to be about Rhett’s age and had dark floppy hair and large glasses. Rhett couldn’t see a menu, but he always ordered the same anyway. “I’d like to have a double misto with matcha powder and oat milk please.”

The man behind the counter lifted an eyebrow and his pouty lips turned upwards into a tiny smirk. He didn’t say anything for at least ten extremely uncomfortable seconds, until Rhett decided to speak up again. “Um, hello? Did you hear me? I want a double-”

“Hey, look around, young man!” A voice from behind called, and when he turned around Rhett saw that it belonged to an elderly guy with a round face and a red trucker hat who sat at one of the small tables. “You’re not in one of your abandoned boot factories or wherever folks like you get their drinks these days,” he continued, not unfriendly but firm. “You’re in our town, and we still drink good old honest coffee here, plain and simple.”

“Uh…” Rhett blinked and turned back around to the waiter. He could feel his ears burning slightly, and suddenly he wished he hadn’t opted for his silky scarf and the pair of wide linen pants today. As long as he was in his own multi-ethnical community in the city, his clothes were completely normal, but now he realised that the locals in the small room were watching him as if he was an exotic animal.

“We’re not that far behind,” the dark-haired man said and gave Rhett a big smile, much friendlier than his earlier smirk. It changed his face dramatically, at least Rhett thought so. It gave him a boyish and almost pretty expression and did strange things to Rhett’s heartbeat. “I could make you a cappuccino or a latte macchiato, and I think I’d even have the stuff for a chai latte lying around. Only normal cow milk though, I’m afraid.”

“Oh that’s okay, I’m not a vegan,” Rhett quickly assured in an attempt to prove that he was not quite the usual city type they apparently thought he was. “I think I’ll take a cappuccino, please.”

“No problem, take a seat.”

Rhett sat down at a table in the middle of the room and took his phone out to check his mails while he was waiting for his coffee. He tried to ignore the stares the locals were shooting in his direction and only noticed the waiter when he had already put a big cup of steaming cappuccino and a delicate plate with a slice of cherry pie down in front of Rhett. He looked up at the man, but quickly lowered his eyes onto the pie when his stomach did a somersault at the sight of plush lips and shiny hair. 

“Um, I didn’t order this?” he mumbled, suddenly worried that he was making a fool of himself again. Maybe giving strangers cherry pie was a weird rural tradition?

“That’s on the house, for the little rant earlier. Mind if I sit with you for a while?”

“Oh, that’s really not necessary. I mean, the pie wouldn’t have been necessary, not you sitting with me is unnecessary… I’d like that.” Rhett cleared his throat and straightened his back a bit. The other man went over to the counter and came back with a mug of coffee for himself. “Don’t you have to work?” Rhett asked after he’d sat down opposite him.

“Well I’m the owner, and business is always slow around this hour.”

Rhett frowned, he didn’t have a thirty-something with thick glasses and a Star Wars Tee down as the owner of a pretty tea room. Maybe it was his wife’s shop, R thought, even though his heart jumped painfully at that idea. 

“I’m Link, by the way,” the guy said and offered Rhett his hand. Rhett took it and noticed how soft and small it felt in his own sweaty palm. “Rhett.”

“Eat, Rhett. You seem like a man who can appreciate some good food,” Link said and gave Rhett’s tall frame a meaningful look.

He was right, Rhett loved to eat, so he pulled the plate closer and started on the pie.

“This is delicious,” he said with a full mouth and stabbed his fork into the pie. He tried to swallow the huge bite he’d taken and nearly choked on the dry pastry. It was horrible, actually, the crust was tough and the cherries were chewy and for some unfathomable reason tasted slightly burned. “Does your wife make these?” he asked to distract from his coughing.

“Wife? Ha!” The older man who’d called him a hipster turned around in his seat. “You’ll have to look forever to find a wife near that one, our Link is as gay as—”

“Thank you, Arnie, I think that’s enough,” Link quickly interrupted with a pained expression on his face. He looked at Rhett and said, “Sorry, Arnie’s a regular. He’s very protective about… well, about everything, I guess.”

“That’s okay.” Rhett really didn’t care, his mind was still firmly latched onto the fact that Link was ‘as gay as _something_ ’, because as gay as something was a hundred times better than ‘straight as a pole.’ He looked at the other man and was close to drowning in tan skin and blu eyes when he heard Link say, “...just not used to your types around here.”

“My types?”

Link waved his hand in Rhett’s. general direction. “Hipsters.”

Rhett scowled. He didn’t know why that term bothered him so much; probably because it was more than a bit true. “I’m not a hipster,” he said weakly.

“Your hair says different, you know” Link replied softly and reached up, his fingers hovering only half an inch over Rhett’s dark blond curls which were tied into a small bun on the top of his head.

“That’s… I dunno.” Rhett really wasn’t sure anymore when exactly he’d made the decision to let his hair grow this long. It was just something different, a way to stand out from other people. He couldn’t say that he liked it more than his old spiky hairstyle though. “Bit stupid, you’re right.”

Link must’ve heard the uncertainty in his voice, because he smiled and said, “No no, I like it! I don’t love the concept of men with ponytails, but you have nice hair. I bet it’s real soft when you wear it loose.”

“Oh.” Rhett said dumbly and tried to hide his blush by taking another sip of coffee. How was one supposed to answer a compliment like that? _Yes, please, you’re fucking gorgeous and I’d love for you to bury your hands in my hair?_

Probably not.

Link must’ve interpreted his silence wrong, because he was staring down into his own mug, the hands Rhett wanted to feel running through his hair were busy tearing a napkin into tiny pieces instead. 

“I’m not coming onto you, if you’re worried about that,” he mumbled quietly. “I know you’re not gay just ‘cause you’re from the city, I’m not stupid.” The napkin disappeared into the rest of coffee on the bottom of Link’s mug, flakes of red paper dissolving in the brown liquid as the man babbled on. “And even if, it’s not like here, I guess there are hundreds of handsome gay guys living in your neighbourhood, thousands, right?” He looked up at Rhett who could see a faint red spreading across Link’s cheeks.

“You’re more attractive than all of them.” Rhett placed his hand on top of Link’s and slowly pulled the remnants of the shredded napkin out of his clutch. His words were confident but his blood was pumping faster than he’d imagined possible.

“Really? I’m kinda… boring.” Link tugged at his graphic tee as if to prove his average ness to Rhett.

“You’re fascinating, Link.” It was true; Link was sweet and good-looking and, judging by the look of his tea room, very hard-working. He was himself, he was _real_ — quality that most of the other men Rhett knew were lacking.

“Okay,” Link said with another smile that threatened to melt Rhett into a puddle of silk and cappuccino then and there. “I think you’re very interesting too, Rhett.”

For a minute or so they sat in silence, occasionally stealing glances and blushing at each other. “Ya gonna ask the tall boy out or not, Link? I’d like to drink my coffee in peace, so why don’t ya two try and p. get your shit together,” a disgruntled voice came from the table behind Link.

Link sputtered and blushed even deeper, but he glanced up at Rhett from under his thic eyelashes and said shyly, “Um, I mean, would you? Go out with me?”

Rhett grinned and leaned over the table. “Do you think your charming regular over there would kick my ass if I said no?” he whispered playfully and wiggled his eyebrows.

“Oh, I’m sure he would. He used to be a fireman, you know,” Link replied with a chuckle.

“In that case, I’d love to go out with you. But I have to leave soon, I still have a two hour drive home.”

Link decided to close the tea room early to grab lunch with Rhett, much to the dismay of Arnie and the other patrons. Just as everyone was shuffling outside the elderly man took Rhett’s arm and pulled him aside. 

“Listen, boy, I don’t wanna say that you’re a bad guy just ‘cause ya wear strange clothes and stuff. But ya better be nice to our Link, ya understand? He hasn’t had a date in forever, and he’s one of the good ones, yeah?” Arnie winked and quickly added: “Even if his pies are straight up dangerous,” before he followed the rest of the guest outside.

“What are you smiling about?” Linked asked as he took his apron off and put on a jacket.

“Nothing,” Rhett said and held the door open for him. “Just thinking how glad I am that you don’t have a Starbucks in town.”


End file.
